I love a good story.
I love baseball.
The Cubs' World Series drought is the greatest story in sports.
If the Cubs win the World Series next week baseball, sports, America, all of us, will lose the single greatest story in sports. So if you love a good story, and if you love baseball, then might I suggest that you don’t really want the Cubs to win the World Series.
For those of you who have been living under a rock for the last 3 weeks, the Cubs haven’t won the World Series since 1908. In fact, until Saturday night, they had never even been to the World Series since the month after the end of World War II. Making the World Series for the first time in over 70 years was certainly a story, but let’s be honest, if they lose this Series to the Indians then just making the World Series won’t mean a whole lot to the Wrigley faithful.
And this story is just too good.
The first World Series ever played was 1903. There was no Series in 1904, and the Cubs won the Series in 1907 and 1908. That means that 95% of all World Series have been played since the Cubs last won. And we’ve all heard the stories of all that has happened in our world since 1908 but I’ll add a couple more. When the Cubs last won the World Series there were only 46 United States. No one in the audience was wearing either a bra or a zipper, because neither had been invented yet (both invented in 1913). We can’t even play the in 1908 gas cost…or in 1908 a movie ticket was…because the Model T was not released until 1908 and there were no theaters.
But here is my favorite part of the story - we should be talking about 1907 as the last time the Cubs won because they never should have even been to the World Series in 1908. That was the year of the Merkle Boner - possibly my favorite story in all of baseball history. Here is the story as told in Ken Burns’ Baseball documentary:
The final weeks of the 1908 National League season saw a fierce struggle between the Chicago Cubs and their arch rivals the New York Giants. With the pennant on the line they met at the Polo Grounds on September 23rd. John McGraw had to make a last minute change in the Giants lineup. First baseman Fred Tenant was injured. Substituting for him was an eager 19 year old rookie named Fred Merkle. In the bottom of the 9th there were 2 men on and 2 outs for the Giants with the score tied 1-1. Giant pinch hitter Moose McCormick was on 3rd representing the winning run. Fred Merkle was the runner on first. Al Bridewell, the Giants shortstop was up to bat. He lined the very first pitch past Cubs 2nd baseman Johnny Evers into center field for a clean single. Moose McCormick lumbered home. The Giants had won the game and most likely the pennant. Jubilant Giant fans began pouring onto the field. At that moment, Fred Merkle was on his way to 2nd. Alarmed by the oncoming crowd, and convinced the game was over, he turned and ran for the clubhouse. Johnny Evers saw that Merkle hadn’t touched 2nd. If Evers could get the ball and touch 2nd himself, the winning run would be cancelled by the force out. The Cubs would still have a chance. But first…he had to find the ball. Joe McGinnity, the Giants third base coach, saw what Evers was up to, won a scramble for the ball, and threw it into the stands. The fan in a brown bowler caught it and started home with his trophy. But 2 Cubs chased the man through the mob, knocked him down when he resisted, grabbed the ball, and tossed it to Joe Tinker, who relayed it to Evers at 2nd. Evers then jumped up and down on the bag to make sure the umpire saw what he had done.
It took Harry C. Puliam, the league president 2 days to make a decision - he disallowed the run and declared the game a tie. At the end of the season the Cubs and Giants had identical records. They played a one game playoff at the Polo Grounds at the end of the season. Christy Mathewson, one of the greatest pitchers in the history of the game, was having the best year of his career. The Cubs bested him in the one game playoff and advanced to face Ty Cobb and the Detroit Tigers in the World Series, who they beat four games to one.
The Cubs' history is different than that of their former fellow drought sufferers the Red Sox in that they haven’t really had a lot to show for 108 years of futility. Sure, there was the Alex Gonzalez game in 2003 (I refuse to call it the Bartman game as Alex Gonzalez made one of the worst errors in history the following batter - click here to watch that entire inning), and the Leon Durham error in 1984, but other than that there were a couple of years in the late 70’s where they started strong and faded and not much else to show for over 15,000 games of baseball.
All that is history. The 2016 Cubs are really good - and young. They look like they could be favored to win the National League pennant for years to come. So if the Cubs win the World Series this year, and if they make it next year, it won’t be near as fun. And the year after (see Red Sox recent history). Imagine if this crop of young Cubbies wins 95-105 games a year for the next 5 years and goes Buffalo Bills on us. As I write during game 1, game 3 tickets in Wrigley are selling on Stubhub for $2,000…for standing room only ($24,000 for the good ones)! The story is like a good wine, it keeps getting better with age.
Full disclosure - I am a Dodgers fan, and my father, being a generational Cardinals fan is a Cubs hater. This has nothing to do with that, it is not about sour grapes. This is about being a baseball fan. If you are a Cubs fan then root your face off for your team. If you are not a Cubs fan, and you love baseball, and you love a good story…do you really want them to win?
